Return of the Lost
by Ryn-Tak
Summary: In which Naruto discovers that he has an aunt that has ties to both the Uzumaki and Namikaze families and that his mother may yet be alive... The question is 'What's he gonna do with the info' Indefinite Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

Return of the Lost

Chapter 1 – Auntie's home!!!

Tsunade sat at her desk wondering what to do with Naruto now that he was back from his mission to deliver messages. She still considered him to be her student even though he was nineteen and starting his second year as a Jounin. She straightened when she heard something on the roof, outside of the window behind her. She felt no chakra signature so she turned around to see what was there. She opened the window expecting Naruto (who had gotten abnormally good at hiding his chakra), one of the Anbu, or even that annoying, newly-made Chunnin, the Third's grandson, Konohamaru and his lackeys. Instead she saw no one, so she closed the window and sat back down. Only then did she see her visitor. In front of her desk stood a woman with bright red hair, blue eyes that strangely reminded Tsunade of Naruto, and a weather beaten-face that held a look of both curiosity and confusion. She wore a black robe with white flames at the tattered hems and the black, heeled boots of a kunoichi. Tsunade looked at her for a minute and said "How can I help you?" The woman looked startled and answered the question with a few questions of her own, "Who are you? The Godaime Hokage?" Tsunade gave her a surprised look and said, "Yes…." The newcomer straightened, then gave a bow that revealed a headband of the Hidden Leaf around her neck, then said, "In that case, I suppose I should report to you then." She cleared her throat and began, "My mission to eliminate the remnants of the Nazaki Clan was completed successfully. A few fools who, I found out later were goons of Orochimaru's, got in the way and were also eliminated. The journey to and from each objective was uneventful. I'll give you a more detailed, written report later." One look at Tsunade's expression when she finished told her to shut up and stay that way until spoken to. Tsunade stared quietly at her desk for a while, then she looked at this mystery kunoichi in front of her and asked one question, "Who are you?" The woman came to attention, gave another small bow and said, "My name is Shafuri Uzumaki, Jounin of Konoha and sister to the late Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze," right as Naruto walked in. After a moment of staring quietly, said, "That can't be right, there is only one Uzumaki left and he lives here in the Village."


	2. Chapter 2

Shafuri, who hadn't noticed Naruto's entrance, whipped around and froze. Haltingly, she spoke, "You… You look just like S-… my brother… just like Minato." Naruto watched her a moment longer and then looked at Tsunade who had been silent throughout the exchange. She closed her eyes, shook her head and told him, "Go eat supper; we will talk tomorrow…. If you stay at the training grounds all night again I'll put you on some missions with Konohamaru, got it!?" Naruto simply grimaced, nodded and stepped out the door after a last look at Shafuri, leaving Tsunade to think about how much he had matured since she first met him. Looking back on it, she had been the one to initiate the bet that led to her coming back to the Village in the first place; maybe he had been more mature than she had thought at the time.

(Or maybe not *wink*)

She was silent as she studied the woman still staring in shock at the door Naruto had left through. Finally, Tsunade cleared her throat and asked Shafuri, "Well, are you going to stare at my door all day or are you going to show me you're true form?"

(Don't ask me how she knew that this wasn't the true form of this being… I have no clue… she didn't tell me XD)

Shafuri had jumped slightly when Tsunade cleared her throat; now, however, she turned slowly and studied Tsunade with an intensity that surprised Tsunade. Then she shrugged, threw a lopsided smile on her face and nodded. Her body began to shift; there was a half-hearted puff of smoke,

(Nowhere NEAR as impressive as the ones that Naruto's shadow clones made)

and the biggest panther Tsunade had ever seen was suddenly lounging in her office. Comfortingly, he

(And yes it was VERY MUCH a HE)

still had a headband of the Hidden Leaf around his neck. It spoke in a deep gravely voice that Tsunade supposed was suitable for a panther. He said, "I am Saigyo,

(His name has absolutely NOTHING to do with Sai)

think of me as a chunk of chakra from the demon panther Saigyo who is sealed inside the Leaf nin Shafuri." He looked thoughtful for a moment and added, "Thinking of me as a shadow clone of Saigyo would also be appropriate. Back to my message, Shafuri sent me to report to you and ask that she not be sent on any missions for the next two months or so, to recover from her many injuries. She also intended to use that time to find any family she had left in the village and surrounding areas, but that was him earlier, wasn't it?" Tsunade, who was still in shock from the panther appearing in her office, recovered enough of her wits to respond with a grudging admission, "Naruto Uzumaki is an orphan and has no living family. He lives alone in his house on the edge of the village,

(Yes, he had a house built for the privacy and security it would provide as well as being located a good ways into the forest on the edge of the village. He also gets a decent and fairly unobstructed view of the Hokage monument for some reason)

but stays in an apartment near this administrative building most of the time. When he was young the villagers shunned him because he became a Jinchuuriki the day he was born. Now, though, he has many friends around the village, most of which are ninja he grew up with." She paused for breath and someone knocked on the door. Suddenly, Saigyo transformed into a male shinobi completely dressed in black. His eyes and headband stayed the same but his face was covered even more than Kakashi's usually is. He spoke quickly, saying, "This is the form that Saigyo often takes, it will be to your benefit to remember it. Now, I must go. Oh and Shafuri will be staying in the Namikaze/ Uzumaki complex,"

(THAT place will be explained later and I will be happy to answer questions about it IF you still have them AFTER Naruto has explored the place a little)

and was gone. Tsunade was deep in thought when the knock came again. "Come in," she said, still a little shaken. Shikamaru walked into her office dragging Konohamaru by his scarf. The rest of Konohamaru's team, excluding Ebisu-sensei, were close behind. Tsunade looked up, took in the situation, and put on a stern face. "What's going on here?" she almost yelled. Shikamaru dropped Konohamaru, who was quickly helped up by Udon and Moegi, and began, "I caught him trying to bribe one of the civilian officials to give him a place as an official for the Chuunin exams… under a henge." Konohamaru, who had been muttering about the indignities of being drug around by his scarf this entire time, snapped his attention to Shikamaru and said, "Not me, Naruto. All he ever does anymore is run errands for you and go on short delivery missions! HE DESERVES BETTER!!!" Tsunade closed her eyes, shook her head (again) and sighed, "Shikamaru, you can get back to work now, I'll take care of this." Shika

(We're gonna call him this from now on 'cuz I'm too lazy to type the whole thing. Any other name shortenings will be mentioned as I come to them)

nodded and left with a mutter of "Troublesome…." Tsunade sighed

(She seems to be doing this a lot lately… not that we don't all know why *wink*)

again as she looked at the stubborn set of Konohamaru's face and said, "Because your attempted bribe was not for yourself, but for Naruto, your punishment will only be for your team's next three missions to be D-rank." Konohamaru almost interrupted with an objection, but Moegi wisely covered his mouth. "Now then," Tsunade growled, "it's time for me to go get some rest; if you see Sakura on your way out, tell her I said to go home for the night. You can leave now, too." They all nodded, though Konohamaru's nod was a bit sulky, and left.

(That's all! No more Tsunade for a while. She may pop up every once in a while, but it's not gonna be often or for very long, after all… Let's face it, she's NOT one of the main characters, but as she amuses me and I find situations in which she fits, we might just see her again.)

As the walked out of the building, Sakura walked up with a stack of papers. They gave her Tsunade's instructions and she said she would walk with them if they would wait for her to turn in the papers she had. They agreed to wait and she went in. Putting the papers away in the Hokage's desk, Sakura noticed a note for her on the top of it. It said, 'Sakura, go home, get some rest and if Naruto hasn't yet, tell him to do so as well. Tsunade.' Sakura frowned slightly and went back down to rejoin Konohamaru's group. The boy himself suggested that they all go to Ichiraku's for a late supper. Everyone agreed, Sakura thinking that Naruto was probably there, and the others all looking forward to the delicious ramen. When they got close enough to smell the mouth-watering aroma unique to Ichiraku's, Konohamaru ran ahead. Moegi and Udon were close behind, but Sakura walked slower noticing that Naruto wasn't there after all. About to go inside, Sakura looked around and saw Naruto walking toward her. The odd part about this was that there was a panther walking beside him and he had a look of rapt attention on his face, as though he were listening to the cat, which, frighteningly, came up to Naruto's waist and had a Konoha headband around its neck. A block away from Ichiraku's they stopped. They spent a moment there talking

(Or at least that's what it LOOKED like)

and suddenly the panther disappeared in a pathetic puff of smoke.

(I swear, no smoke puff EVER stands even a sliver of a chance of being anywhere near as impressive as Naruto's do…. Now that I've gotten my point across, I hopefully won't have to mention this again… although my wording may give away just how… whispy?… all other puffs of smoke are *grin*)

Konohamaru pulled Sakura into Ichiraku's, asking what the hold-up was, just as Naruto looked up.

(Aww sorry 'bout the cliffy, but I have plans as the next bit is gonna make up the next chappy)


	3. Chapter 3

Authoress's Note

Okay, I know I haven't updated in forever but I'm having a bit of a dilemma. I am unsure of whether or not I want Sasuke to be alive or even still in the village. I'd like you who read the story to help me out with this.

Just PM me or review or something telling me if you want Sasuke to be alive or not and if he's still in the village if he's alive.

Really, this won't make much difference in the story right away. There may be a certain lack of sarcastic comments if he's not there, but that will be about it for now.

I'm gonna give you guys 2 months to let me know what you think about this and give me time to work on chapter 3 (which I haven't even touched in forever mind you) and I will probably finish Ch. 3 maybe a month or so after that, which, as I figure it, should be more than enough time, for all those who want to have a hand (or opinion ^_^) in Return of the Lost.

I'll let you know right now that I do more reading than writing (another reason for my lack of updates (just look at my favorite stories)) and lately I've been EXTREMELY pervy so at this point I may or may not be thinking about pairings. Which is another thing you can tell me about if you have an idea for one that you think might fit the plot. I think I could do either yaoi or het, but I doubt I could do yuri. Just don't expect any Lemons or anything. I enjoy reading them as I am sure several of you do as well, I've never written one though and don't know how it would turn out if I tried.

Thanks for reading my rant _

Remember to READ AND REVIEW!!!!


	4. AN Hiatus

Author's Note

I apologize but I will be putting Return of the Lost on indefinite hiatus.

I have no inspiration for this fic. I might come back to it at some point, but don't get your hopes up anytime soon.

I am NOT giving up on it and won't be putting it up for adoption. I will _try_ to get back to it, but, like I said, don't get your hopes up at this point.

I am sorry, as much as I thought this story would be fun to write, I just can't force myself to write for it (and if I did, it wouldn't go well, **at all**).

I really appreciate everyone who alerted, favorite'd, and reviewed. Thank you all.

Ryn


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